Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene January - February 2016 vol.11 no.1 | Page 10

NEWS in brief
20 Years of Feces-Contaminated Water Leads to
Lawsuit

Global Highlights

22 Countries Join ‘Because the Ocean’ to Support
Action on Climate Change and Oceans

10 December 2015: At the Paris Climate Change
Conference, 22 countries supported the ‘Because the Ocean’
Declaration and agreed to work towards three objectives to
advance action on climate change, oceans and sustainable
development.

Thousands of South American water consumers filed a class
action lawsuit against government agencies in November
after a study revealed that they had been drinking water
contaminated by human feces for over two decades.
The lawsuit was filed by residents of El Pinar and Manantiales
in Columbia, UPI reported. “The study by the environmental
laboratory at the University of Antioquia revealed those
residents had been drinking water contaminated with E. coli
and human feces for more than 20 years,” the report said.
University of Antioquia professor and researcher Leidy Ávila
explained the study to Radio Caracol, per UPI. Residents
“are consuming water that is not potable [because the local
governments and utilities company have not connected the
town to a local aqueduct holding clean water],” Ávila said.
“It was determined that they are consuming water with
human excrement, so the pollution is very serious.”
In other contamination news, some Canadian residents
recently received bad news about their drinking water, as
well.
“More than 300,000 Canadians contract an acute stomach
bug every year from the municipally-supplied water that
comes out of their taps, some likely ending up in hospital
or even dying,” the National Post reported, citing a new
government study.
“The research also concludes millions of people are still
getting their drinking water from substandard municipal
and private systems — despite repeated safety warnings
after a tainted-water disaster in Walkerton, Ont.,” the news
report said.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Public
Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada.
“Our bathroom at the Circus Hotel, Berlin,” Heather Cowper ©
2000

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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • January - February 2016

The Chilean Foreign Affairs Ministry, the French Ministry
of Ecology, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation,
the Global Ocean Commission (GOC), the Institute on
Sustainable Development and International Relations
(IDDRI) and Tara Expeditions organized the ‘Because the
Ocean’ event on the sidelines of the Paris Climate Change
Conference.
“The ocean will—today and every day—extract four
kilograms of carbon dioxide per person on the planet from
our atmosphere,” explained Global Ocean Commission
(GOC) Co-Chair José María Figueres at the event. He
highlighted the ocean’s role in shielding the earth from
“intense and accelerated climate change impacts,” noting
that it absorbs 25% of carbon and absorbs 90% of excess
heat, and urged countries to “cherish and protect the ocean.”
“Because the Ocean sustains life on earth and our collective
well-being” the signatory countries urge action to enhance
global ocean resilience to the impacts of carbon dioxide
emissions and climate change. The Declaration describes the
ocean’s contribution to economic wealth and climate-related
impacts on the ocean, observing climate change seriously
affects marine life and causes irreversible damage to coral
reefs and related ecosystems and species. The Declaration
emphasizes the importance of the ocean for small island
developing States (SIDS) and for the implementation of the
Paris Agreement.
Because the Ocean will work towards: JHH